Interesting Analysis of The Master

Dodd
In general, the idea in Buddhist philosophy is that we're are eternal beings trapped in this system of suffering, trying to break free, and the only way to break free is via enlightenment. This is extremely similar to what Lancaster Dodd is teaching, that our souls are trillions of years old, and are sort of infected by these ethereal forces (in Buddhism that would be karma) which prevent us from realizing our true selves (achieving enlightenment).

In Thervada Buddhism the way to achieve enlightenment is to follow the teachings of the Buddha as written, so in the case of The Master, Lancaster Dodd would be the Buddha, and his books would be the Buddha's teachings.

Those teachings basically state that you have to work on yourself, through meditation and study, until you reach a state where you no longer desire the material, or physical world. Lancaster Dodd's idea is that you eliminate your animal self (desires) through almost a kind of meditative hypnosis and practice, and that is the means by which you are able to discover what you are and the meaning of your existence. For Dodd, that is enlightenment.

Quell
The Charavakas believe that this world is the only world, there is no afterlife, so you should partake in all the pleasures of the flesh, because in the end, that's all that exists. Have sex, drink as much drink as you'd like, revel in your beastliness if it so pleases you.

The Charvakas believed that most of the religious texts were a bunch of bullshit, that men made up as they went along.

So you can see how this relates to Quell, in the way that he is living. Having sex, drinking way too much, getting into fights, and enjoying in the pleasures that flesh brings.

Now, you can't simply just "be" a Charvakan. That is to say, if you go out into the world trying to have sex and drink your way through life, you'll be unhappy. It is only through understanding that this life is precious, and indeed the only one which we have to live that you can live happily as a Charvakan. So there has to be a deep level of thought, understanding, and self realization that goes into it.

So we see Freddie Quell in the beginning of the movie doing essentially all of the same things he is doing in the final scenes of the movie (drinking too much, asking random women to sleep with him, wandering aimlessly), yet he seems to be a completely changed man. Before, he felt lost in his travels as a Charvaka, now he appears to revel in it.

How Dodd and Quell relate to one another
In the beginning of the film we see Quell essentially acting like an animal (masturbating over a cliff in front of everyone, simulating sex with and fingering a sand sculpture, drinking, fighting, wandering aimlessly). When Lancaster Dodd finds Quell, he sees an opportunity to use his teachings on a genuine beast of a man.

Over the course of the film we see his efforts to help Quell achieve Dodd's version of enlightenment through his experiments, meditative practices, and teachings. It is able to at times temporarily restrain Quell, but time and time again, Quell's beastly nature explodes forth when confronted with various situations (police scene, jail scene, beating up the man at the book release, drinking too much).

All the while, we're getting a glimpse into the fact that Dodd himself struggles to control his beastly nature (his wife masturbating him and the animalistic sounds he makes, snapping in the jail cell, exploding on the critic at the party, drinking too much, snapping on the lady at the book release). Dodd himself seems to begin to realize that his teachings are failing but by this time "The Master" has become a slave to the thing he has created (but that's a whole other issue).

The sort of climax, if you will, is the final meeting between Dodd and Quell. Dodd asks Freddie to stay, and Freddie states, "Maybe in the next life," in what was IMO, a very knowing tone. Knowing in the sense that, he is aware of the fact that there is no "next life" and that Dodd is full of shit. Dodd then replies that if Quell leaves and they do meet in the next life they will be sworn enemies (Thervadans and Charvakas are basically diametrically opposing schools of thought).

So then we have the final scenes with Quell which show him wandering the European countryside, in a bar drinking. He asks a random women to come back to his room and they have sex. Quell seems for the first time to have some sense of peace and understanding. He has finally become a full fledged Charvaka.

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